Plastic {free} Pantry

In a very small effort to transform my kitchen, I decided to ditch the plastic in my pantry. I've done this before, but not to this extent. I was in Ace Hardware the other day and noticed that Ball makes ½ gallon jars. I really had no idea. I had just purchased a dozen wide-mouth quart jars for this project, but couldn't resist the ½ gallon ones. So here's what I did:

All traces of plastic are gone. I even put cereal in jars. I used the ½ gallon jars. I ♥ these things! 

This is the sweet side of the pantry … honey, turbinado, cocoa, sugars … ♥

And beans. I am so lazy - I have several cans off to the side that you can't see (of which the cans are surely coated with BPA). I must phase those out and take the time to soak beans when I need or want them. :)

OK … that's it … just sharing the  fun ;)

Millet Muffins

What? Millet? Huh?

I use the basic muffin recipe from Bread Beckers (really, you can't beat this book for good and healthy recipes for $6!). Then I add ¼ cup of whole millet to the muffin batter and bake as usual. They add just the right amount of texture and crunch. I make these about once a week in my house and by the end of the week all 12 are gone! It's a great quick breakfast with a tall glass of {organic} milk or have the same for a nice afternoon snack.

So what's in these? freshly milled hard red wheat flour, raw honey, buttermilk, egg, salt, olive oil, baking soda and baking powder. That's it.

Fresh from the oven …

Going … going …

Gone!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

In my quest to eat well, I have been reading, among other things, Jillian Michaels' Master Your Metabolism.

It's an excellent book and I have gleaned so much. It's also nice to read about her own struggles and temptations. I love her even more than I did before I picked it up. I am pairing it with her Master Your Metabolism Cookbook. Can I tell you that every single recipe that I have tried in the cookbook has been great? It has. So this morning I thought I would try her Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Here are the ingredients:

Let's see … rolled oats, olive oil, cinnamon, salt, white whole wheat flour, baking powder, honey, coconut milk, baking soda and carob chips. WHAT? No sugar? No butter? No SUGAR??

Yes … NO sugar :)

Now these next few things are important ...

Aluminum-free baking powder. You can buy this at almost any chain super market these days and it's really worth the extra money. I don't want to be putting any extra aluminum in my body if I can help it! All Rumford products are also manufactured in a peanut-free environment.

RAW honey. Preferably locally grown. Here's the deal … honey IS sugar, but it's natural and unrefined and contains tons of enzymes and nutrients and won't cause a rapid rise and fall in your blood sugar (I've learned this is sooooo important!). But it should be raw. One way to tell? If you can see through the honey then it has been pasteurized and it isn't raw. You know those cute little bear bottles? yeah, not raw honey. In the bottle it should be dark and opaque (see the above pic of the ginormous full bottle).

Carob chips, not chocolate chips, were used by me. Jillian recommends 70% cocoa chips, but I couldn't find these, not even at Whole Foods. I'm sure I could find some online, but I wasn't online when I went shopping the other day. So I opted for carob chips, unsweetened. I'm trying to eliminate added sugar from my diet.

Although the carton says "cage free, organic eggs", these are actually farm-fresh, free-range, organic eggs from a local farm where hubby hunts. He pays $2 a dozen!! You can DEFINITELY tell the difference between store-bought and truly farm-fresh. I would pay $4 a dozen, but I don't have to :)

By the way there is a difference in cage-free and free-range. Free-range is best.

I've never, ever used coconut milk to cook or bake anything! We'll see how it goes ...

Normally I only bake with my freshly milled whole wheat flour, but since I've never had these before and the recipe called for white whole wheat flour, I used my King Arthur flour (I have several types in my fridge for just such an occasion). I don't use "mainstream" flours for several reasons, not the least of which is not wanting to contribute to the incorporation of our food supply. But that's another blog post … 

And here's my salt. It's called Real Salt. It doesn't look like table salt … it's more pink than white. But oh, the flavor is yum! It is unrefined, unbleached and contains many trace minerals and no anti-caking additives. 

Those are the ingredients. And those are my antique Pyrex bowls waiting patiently to help me :)

Here we go … we mixed the dry ingredients:

Then the wet ingredients:

I just thought that looked cool :)

Here is Grace helping me … not such a clear picture because I cannot get her to be still for even a second!

Mix mix mix … looks good! Goodness, I just ♥ my Pyrex bowls. {sigh} I am waxing nostalgic … back to the present …

Now for some time in the oven …

They cooked a little quicker than the recipe called for (I'm finding that to be the case … my oven is on the warm side .. I really need a new oven thermometer since I broke mine!)

Here they are fresh out of the oven. YUM!! Once again, the recipes in this book are great!

I really enjoyed mine with a glass of fat free (organic, of course) milk :)

Grace wanted a little powdered sugar sprinkled on top, and I obliged. Funny thing is my picky oldest girl loved them right out of the oven, with no sugar sprinkled on top! Of course, when I offered some to Grace, then Lydia wanted some too :)

So these were, apparently, a big hit! I guess it's always good when your face is covered like that!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins get 4 stars from me. They're easy to make, truly healthy, and also good to have on hand for snacks. Score one more for Jillian Michaels' Master Your Metabolism Cookbook!

{gasp}

This was staring me in the face earlier today as I was searching for something:

That's hubby's night table drawer. When I was unpacking stockings from Christmas I just dumped all his candy loot in there like that. It beckons me … but I have refused to give in. Even to a little piece of gum. Zip. Nada. I'm gonna conquer this!